Five ways to support parents of refugees to help their children learn and thrive in times

 
Children learn 

To mark World Refugee Day and Parenthood Month, partners behind two major children learn. Early childhood interventions in humanitarian settings - Play to Learn and Ahlan Simsim - share five takeaways. Here they reflect on how these lessons can guide approaches to provide parents with the tools and strategies they need to help young children learn, play, and thrive during the pandemic and beyond.

 |

Sesame Street Puppet Tuktuki visits a family in Rohingya refugee camps in Cox's Bazar as part of Bangladesh's Play to Learn humanitarian program.

Ryan Donnell / Sesame Workshop / 2018

This blog was co-authored by:

• Anita Anastacio, initiative manager at the LEGO Foundation
• Talat Mahmud, Director of Programs, Sesame Workshop
• Erum Mariam, Executive Director, BRAC Educational Development Institute
• Manar Shukri, Early Childhood Development Technical Officer, International Rescue Committee

Parents play a central role in the learning and well-being of their children, especially in times of crisis.

We know that parents are the most critical first teachers and playmates in their children's lives and that involving a caring adult in their education is one of the best ways to help children cope: stress and build resilience in times of crisis.

We also know that other adults are often involved in their education in these situations. But, parents and these other caregivers are also affected by the crisis, and they need specific promotion to meet their own necessarily while caring for their children.

We had to conform quickly and rethink our technique to support parents and stakeholders facing the double displacement crisis and pandemic.

We also examine how these lessons can guide future efforts to provide parents and other health professionals with the tools and game plan they need to help children learn, play and thrive, anyplace they are.

Consult the experts: engage directly with parents to understand and meet their needs.

Ahlan Simsim and Show to Learn beginning with extensive formative research and consulting with parents and other stakeholders to inform the design of our program. From the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, we knew we had to continue to engage directly with them to understand and respond to changing needs and priorities.

As many face-to-face services were suspending, our frontline workers had to use their phones to ask them what challenges they were facing and what resources they had available to promote their children's learning and well-being at home.

The IRC found that many parents and educators in the Middle East were asking questions about strategies to support their children's reading, writing, numeracy learning, and socio-emotional learning, which has become a central part of our distance learning program.

In the Rohingya refugee camps of Cox's Bazar, the contribution of parents and educators has helped develop BRAC's telecommunications model, Pashe Achhi ("By your side," in Bengali), which focuses on psychosocial support, promotion of autonomy, and children's engagement in playful learning.

They say they were relieved that the hosts called them and felt valued and respected to have the opportunity to ask questions, address fears over the pandemic and share their concerns without being judged.

BRACE

Design innovative solutions based on the needs of parents and educators and the practices already implemented.

The suspension of many face-to-face direct services has forced us to find innovative ways to stay connected and deliver services remotely. The key has been to identify behaviors and platforms that are easily accessible and familiar to parents and other educators and adapt our work accordingly.

In the Middle East, needs assessment data revealed that parents and other stakeholders in the education process prefer to engage through WhatsApp. 

At the same time, mobile phone calls have proven to be the most effective way to engage children to learn. 'reach these at Cox's Bazar. Each of these adaptations was an essential reminder of what we should always do when developing programs: designing people-centered, context-sensitive solutions alongside the communities we support.

Initial reactions from parents and other educators show a preference for telephone programs.

We also see the potential for remote modalities, particularly telephone interventions, to become scalable and cost-effective models with great potential to extend their reach to much more impoverished and harder-to-reach communities.

Caring for parents and educators: promoting their psychological healthiness 

We see the best approach to reach young in emergencies is through caregivers. But before children can care for their children, we need to make sure their basic needs are met, including mental health.

Our research on the mental health of parents and other educators shows that the COVID-19 pandemic has affected them quite severely, notably through a general increase in the rate of depression and anxiety. A study by Ahlan Simsim found that 4 in 5 parents or educators surveyed said they felt overwhelmed with daily tasks, and more than two-thirds said they were not patient with their children.

These stressors could have serious long-term consequences for both children and children learn. It is why we have adapted our distance program to provide psychosocial support to parents and other caregivers to respond to the increased problems of anxiety, stress, and isolation during the pandemic.

As we have integrated the well-being of parents and other educators to maintain some contact with them and support them from the onset of the pandemic, we have also paid special attention to developing the skills of facilitators to build relationships with parents. And educators to promote more open and meaningful conversations about their needs and challenges.

Together, we have developed a care system whereby all children and adults involved in their education have psychosocial support.

Our data suggest that this emphasis on the mental health and well-being of those involved in children's learn-rearing improves the quality of telephone models focused on parent-child interaction. In addition, parents and educators say they look forward to calls with our facilitators and appreciate this opportunity to ask questions, share concerns, and get advice for positive involvement in their children's education.

Involve fathers and mothers in promoting child development

The engagement of fathers in the learning and development of their children has received little support in humanitarian settings. However, our recent data, both in Bangladesh and the Middle East, indicate that fathers have a keen interest in their children's education, development, and protection. Fathers say they are proud of their children's participation in the Ahlan Simsim and Play to Learn programs, and they have high aspirations for the future of their children, for both girls and boys.

In addition, in consultations with fathers in preparation for a new model of Play to Learn engagement, we found that fathers wanted to learn how to foster peaceful and grounded relationships. On good communication between parents to create stable and nurturing homes for their children.

Ahlan Simsim's research found that fathers confirmed their interest in participating in parenting programs that fit their busy schedules. These results demonstrate the need to invest more in early childhood development and parental support for both fathers and mothers.